Season 2 of Star Wars Rebels Gets a Summer Release Date and a New Poster

The first season of Star Wars Rebels premiered in October of 2014, so we naturally assumed that the second season would debut in the fall as well. But now, it seems that Disney's confidence in the show has gotten a boost, as they are premiering the highly anticipated second season on June 20, much earlier than any of us expected. The first 2 episodes, which premiered at Star Wars Celebration, will be released in June with the remaining 20 episodes scheduled for a more traditional fall release.

The poster highlights one of the most exciting aspects of the next season: the return of James Earl Jones as classic Star Wars villain Darth Vader. Rebels takes place shortly before Episode IV: A New Hope, so Vader is comfortably out of his Anakin phase and is already a formidable villain who is attempting to eliminate the Lothal resistance, including the fledgling Jedi.

But Darth Vader is far from the only iconic Star Wars Universe character to return this season. Star Wars: The Clone Wars favorite Ahsoka Tano was teased in the explosive season one finale, and we have since learned that fellow Clone Wars alums Captain Rex and Hondo will play prominent roles in season two.

And then there's Sarah Michelle Gellar, who has been cast in a mystery role (working alongside real-life husband Freddie Prinze Jr., who plays Kanan). Our only clue as to her role so far has been Prinze's joke that she's playing a Wookie because she's "hairy" and has a "growly voice," which we can only assume was entirely facetious. So we have no idea, but we're still keeping our fingers crossed for Princess Leia.

As confirmed by Dave Filoni at Star Wars Celebration, Rebels season two will run for an extended order of twenty-two episodes.